A football team has rallied to raise money in honour of their friend who suffers from a chronic condition.

Martin Tallent is living with Cystic Fibrosis, a condition which brings with it a life expectancy of 39-years.

His former team mates at AFC Haywards Heath have raised £1,255 for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

Player Terry Wallis has helped organise barbecues, charity football matches and raffles and another player has run a marathon for the trust.

He said: “We were all out on a team bonding excise when me and another player Shamen Blythe decided we would do something in aid of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust as we had seen Martin that day and we know what he goes through on a daily basis.

“He is a friendly easy to talk to guy and since joining the club I am proud to call him a friend and after seeing the documentary I saw of him I knew we had to honour him in some way.”

A documentary about how Martin copes with cystic fibrosis was aired on the BBC.

In it, Martin described how he coped with the illness after he was diagnosed following a holiday to Spain.

“To be afraid of death is only natural. What I really hated about my CF is it made me feel guilty for dying. But if you are positive in a general sense then you are going to do a lot better with everything.”